Hunter
03/10/24
An annual report indicates Iowa is in good economic health, but its workers, not so much.
The Gazette reports the analysis was recently published by the Iowa Business Council, a nonprofit that advocates for 22 of Iowa’s largest businesses, including Alliant Energy, Casey’s, Corteva Agriscience, John Deere, Fareway, Hy-Vee, MercyOne, MidAmerican Energy, Pella, Principal, UnityPoint Health and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa.
The report covers five categories: Economic growth, workforce and education, governance, health and wellness, and demographics and diversity.
The state’s Gross State Product increased by over 9 ½ percent compared to last year, and is poised for continued growth with changes to corporate and individual taxes. Other metrics showing Iowa’s strength are a labor force participation rate that is 6th best in the country, percent of Iowa students who have some post-high school education, public pension funding, positive net migration, and 95.5% of the population who have health insurance.
The report scores Iowa as under-performing in the percentage of residents who are obese, the number of mental health care providers per capita, and the ethnic diversity of the state’s population. Just 17.2 percent of Iowa’s population is non-white, 45th lowest in America.
The Gazette also reports the Iowa Business Council supports federal immigration reform that includes expanding work visas and expediting the process for those who are waiting to come to the country legally to address the state’s workforce needs. And to attract new workers, the Council says Iowa needs to add 25,000 housing units by the end of the decade, 18,000 of which should be single-family housing.